What a Difference a Year Makes

I spent last week at Open Source Week in Brussels. Having been close to European public affairs and Digital Sovereignty for much of the last year, I wanted to reflect on just how much has changed in that time – and how clearly that change was on display last week.

The New Standard for Digital Sovereignty

The most striking shift is that open source is now firmly accepted as one of, if not the main, solutions for digital sovereignty in Europe. We are no longer debating whether open source is relevant; we are discussing how to implement it at the highest levels. The presence of senior figures from the European Commission and many MEPs throughout the week is clear evidence of this newfound status.

Proving the Financial Value

We are also seeing the conversation move toward the tangible financial value that open source sovereign solutions provide. Speakers were already talking about the real-world savings they’ve seen. For example, Dirk Schroeter from the German state of Schleswig-Holstein shared during his keynote at the Open Source Policy Summit that they have saved €50 million via their sovereign efforts. These aren’t just theoretical projections anymore—they are proven results. Sovereign open source is now a modernisation strategy – not just an obligation.

Moving from Desire to Action

We are now seeing conversation on the topic (and yes there’s been a lot of that) turn to a burning desire for practical application. This is being supported by new assessment tools and frameworks coming from the European Commission, from SUSE, and from others. Many of these were being talked about on stage and in the lobbies of events. These resources are essential in helping customers navigate their choices and understand exactly how to move forward.

A Wider Range of Choice

Talking of choice, we are seeing options that simply weren’t available a year ago. Customers now have a wider range than ever of sovereign solutions to choose from, according to what they want. This includes everything from solutions developed by European companies to those offered by hyperscalers. How you respond to the sovereignty imperative (or better still, given the above, opportunity) depends on where and who you are, and what you want to do.

The Next Step: Build, Build, Build

The discussions in Brussels have now shifted toward the future: how to create sovereignty at scale. The focus for 2026 is moving toward how to stimulate mass adoption and how to generate interoperability. So in a funny way (it being Brussels), where everyone was looking during the week’s events wasn’t at the EU institutions, it was towards us, the scale enterprises who can make a difference and connect customers en masse to sovereign solutions. As Cristina Caffara of EuroStack said in Brussels last week, “Regulators are going to regulate – they are not going to build an industry, that is up to us”.

It will be interesting to see, when we return to this week in 2027, what has been achieved in these areas. The momentum is there, and the transition from policy to building to adoption is well underway.